Wednesday, 23 October 2013

It seems strange that the nemesis in both this, and the last
entry, have recently been given a revisit in the new series; whilst The Abominable Snowmen may not have
returned per se, the Great Intelligence certainly has, appearing in The Snowmen (which is only one word away
from being an identical title), The Bells
of Saint John and the incredible season finale, The Name of the Doctor. The
50th anniversary is due to reintroduce the fan favourite, the
Zygons. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Season
7b, Cold War saw the return of one of
the most popular races in Doctor Who,
the Ice Warriors. Doctor Who’s love/hate relationship with the creatures from Mars
began here, in November 1967, in The Ice
Warriors.

The Ice Warriors is
one of those rare serials which open with its own unique opening credits; here,
the name of the serial fills the entire screen, and creepy incidental music
accompanies these opening title cards.
The music is reminiscent of early Star
Trek incidental music, in fact, and is typical Dudley Simpson, with jarring
sound effects clashing with some orchestral majesty. It’s a lovely piece. Also unique about this serial is the loss of
the word “episode” or “part” – instead, the number simply looms across the
screen.

The opening scenes are wonderful too – there is an
interesting juxtaposition of old and new, as the Victorian decorations and
architecture are home to enormous computer banks and ultra-modern costumed
characters. In contrast to his
futuristic costume, Peter Barkworth is magnificent as Leader Clent from his
first appearance, hobbling around the room and barking orders. Sadly less impressive is Roy Skelton’s voice
work as the computer – later named ECCO in the novelisation – as it mumbles
robotic nonsense in a barely audible manner reminiscent of WOTAN or countless
other computers in Doctor Who.

The discovery of the Ice Warrior, Varga, is magnificent –
seen through the fantastic set design, shimmering and imposing, he looks
wonderful. There is a slightly ropey
moment where a mixture of stock footage and live action are merged and it becomes
unclear what is happening where, but ultimately it is a pleasing scene, and the
quality of the direction of the live performances is unquestionable – Derek
Martinus is always capable of creating a sense of wonder in his serials, and
this is no different. As with his work
on The Tenth Planet, the scenes
outdoors are some of the best, and it helps to create an impressive sense of
scale.

The eventual arrival of the TARDIS, some ten minutes into
the episode, is a wonderful moment of physical comedy for Troughton, Hines and
Watling, as they are forced to climb the vertical floor of the TARDIS and out,
over the ledge. The scenes in which they
enter the base are similarly very humorous, as the crew are mistaken for
scavengers. The scenes which follow,
with the Doctor following Clent around the room unnoticed by the scientists,
and then interfering and saving the day, are brilliant, and Troughton is back
on his comedic form, playing the wise-cracking clown to Clent’s uptight
scientist. I simply adored his line that
“Nobody’s perfect”, and again we see Troughton thoroughly enjoying
himself. After such a serious serial
before this, it is refreshing to see Troughton bounce back.

The scenes in the main Ioniser control room are filled with
techno-babble, but there are some absolute gems in the script too – Clent’s
line that “suddenly, one year there was no Spring” is haunting and evocative,
and drives the point home in a direct manner.
After this, we have something of an info-dump, as the back story of
Penley’s leaving the project is explained.
Clent’s response to the mention of Penley’s name earlier was wonderful –
he is all gruff bravado on the surface – but his mention here of the name is
more reverential, and he clearly sees the Doctor as a potential
replacement. Although he doesn’t like
computers, Troughton’s Doctor is evidently a scientific genius, and even Clent
has to acknowledge his abilities. It’s
been quite some time since Troughton was so commanding in the role.

The cliffhanger, and its subsequent resolution in the
following episode, is rather spectacular, as Varga is gradually being revived
thanks to the low current running through the ice and his casing. Whilst he thaws out behind a curtain, things
seem to be getting steamy in front too, and Hines is on top form as he
discusses the scantily-clad female scientists and suggests that Victoria could
pull off a similar look; Victoria’s disgust is palpable, and is a nice little
reminder that she is as out of her own time as Jamie, and those Victorian
principles evidently die hard. It is the
first sure sign that there is something passing for a libido within the TARDIS,
and whilst Victoria may be too stuffy and uptight to respond, within the next
few stories we’ll be meeting a scientist named Zoe who is precisely the kind of
responsive flirt Jamie evidently needs.

Episode 2 also seems to see the death of the Victoria
character we knew. I’ve mentioned in my
last few blogs how surprised I am by the vigour and drive with which Watling’s
character responds to situations. Whilst
she may scream from time to time, she was nowhere near as unbearable as I
seemed to remember, instead seeming proactive and looking for trouble. This seems to be the precise moment at which
things change, though; she goes from go-getter and thrill-seeker to whining,
screaming girly girl seemingly overnight.
Whilst episodes 2 and 3 are missing, with the audio track, narrated by
Fraser Hines, and the opening moments of episode 2 sees Victoria scream
“Jamie!” desperately, before she “collapses in a dead faint.” From this moment on, there seems to have been
an irrevocable change in her, and she’ll never be the same again.

I’m watching the newly released DVD of this serial, which
actually has the episodes animated in the stead of the usual linking narration,
but rather than focus on the animation, I’m watching the two in sync, so rather
than focus on the sterling animation created by Qurios Entertainment, I focus
on the serial itself, and what Martinus seems to pull off using the resources
of the time, instead of what we’re able to see thanks to the animation.

Clent’s reliance upon technology is contrasted with the
lifestyle of Storr and Penley, and Hayles is clearly trying to send us a
message that technology is responsible for everything bad happening to the
world; the message, however, is undermined somewhat by Storr as a
character. Angus Lennie must be the
campest savage ever, and the conversation about a “whatdoyacallit – a tomato?”
is painfully contrived. Meanwhile,
Hayles is similarly criticising the militant minded, and this is more
successful – as Varga, Bernard Bresslaw is magnificent with his rasping tones
and his staccato laugh. Where the
character shows his flaws is in his paranoia – whilst he is off with Victoria,
he shows that he is too capable of fear, as he plots in a measured and
calculated way the downfall of the humans, simply because he is concerned for
the safety of his people.

Of course, this is the point of the Ice Warriors; they are a
fascinating race precisely for all of these intricacies. After this serial, though, they become far
more interesting, showing different levels of a hierarchy, represented through
their caste system. When we next meet
them, they are trying to conquer the Earth from the moon using a fungus sent
via the Trans-mat system in The Seeds of
Death. Opposite Jon Pertwee’s Doctor, they appear in
the two Peladon stories, representing ideas of peace, representing the Galactic
Federation.

Episode 3, whilst still missing from the archives, is where
the story begins to slip for me. Whilst
the whole thing sounds magnificent, and the linking narration from Hines helps
to sell it too, I can’t help but feel that it’s all show, and no meat behind
the story. It begins to feel like, 3
episodes in, nothing has actually happened yet.
The entire plot seems to surround two groups of characters doing what
they are doing for no reason other than fear.
And whilst that usually wouldn’t bother me, here it frustrates me
terribly, as ultimately the entire serial is a complete run-around, with no
serious danger to anyone. But more on
that later...

There are some lovely little moments, including the scene
between Peter Sallis’ Penley and Wendy Gifford’s Miss Garrett. Ultimately, this scene is a waste of time, as
it achieves nothing, yet still it is played wonderfully, and the exposition
allows the characters some growth. It
does frustrate me how stubborn and narrow-minded Penley is, though. Miss Garrett pleads with him to return with
her to save the day, yet he point-blank refuses to. Never mind that the world is at stake; it
seems he is doing it just to stick two fingers up at the establishment... or
namely, Clent.

Similarly brilliant is the scene between Jamie and Arden and
the Ice Warriors who mercilessly gun them down.
Clent’s resistance to send them off – because of the enormous workload
Penley is still refusing to help with! – saw Jamie volunteer himself to save
the damsel in distress. That they should
get so close, but then seemingly fall at the final hurdle, is horrific, and one
can only imagine how children would have reacted to it when it first
aired. It sounds horrifically brutal,
and even though Arden hasn’t been the most likable character – he’s single-handedly
responsible for the return of the Ice Warriors and at least one fatality due to
his negligence on the ice cap, let us not forget – it is still tragic that he
gave his life up to try and redeem himself, and save the world. Jamie is saved by Penley, who takes him back
to his hideout, much to the chagrin of Storr.
Again, Lennie and Sallis sell the scene like a bickering old gay couple,
and it is intolerable. As Storr mutters “Ach,
I don’t trust anyone from that base”, we are reminded of the two polar extremes
seen here, between the extreme faith in science of Clent and the extreme
disdain held for it by Storr. Both are
stubborn and pig-headed, and neither is right – which lends some depth, at
least, to their characterisation.

Troughton doesn’t seem to have a great deal to do in this
episode, still pottering about doing research and arguing with Clent about his
reliance upon computers. The scene when
Victoria finally makes contact with them again, and Clent is too concerned about
the ship to care about Arden and Jamie’s death, is rather unnerving; he seems
to dismiss their deaths rather brusquely, although it certainly sounds like
there’s at least a slight degree of remorse there. Regardless, his cries of “Keep calm,
girl! We want facts!” seems rather
tactless.

Episode 4 is, thankfully, still in the archives, and after
two episodes of almost nothing happening, it is refreshing that we can focus
once more on what we can see. Not that the plot is really up to much; this
is a typical fourth episode where nothing really happens. Victoria finally escapes, but is captured
again by the end. Storr plans on selling
out the human race to the Ice Warriors, but is killed for his trouble. The Doctor says that he is going to go and
see the Ice Warriors... and goes to see the Ice Warriors. There’s never really a sense of urgency in
episodes like this, despite Clent and Garrett, back at the base, who are
clearly terrified by the graphic of lumps moving towards a U-shape building,
presumably the base and the Ioniser.

The opening of the episode is equally dissatisfying; the
cliffhanger was needless in the last episode, since no sooner do they pull out
the sonic weapon, they then re-sheath it, deciding instead to let Victoria tell
the Doctor and co even more. Not that
Victoria is really of any use in this episode either; instead, she simply
stumbles around in the worst attempt at a break-out ever, and screams shrilly
enough to cause an avalanche, burying the equally inept Ice Warrior that was
stumbling after her.

There is a lovely and touching scene, between Clent and the
Doctor, when the Doctor announces that he is going to leave the base to become
captured by the Ice Warriors – Clent has not seemed so human at any point, and
between this speech – “I’ve come to regard you as Penley’s replacement” – and the
scene at the end when he gulps back “I’m pinning all my hopes on the Doctor” as
he realises that it is potentially too dangerous to use the Ioniser, he really
wins the audience over.

Ultimately, though, it comes down to a key word in that last
sentence – potentially. Everything seems to be on hold because
the Ice Warriors ship might have a
nuclear reactor, and as such the Ioniser might
react and destroy the base, and with it the hopes for the future of
Earth. But after 4 episodes, we need to
see something more than a group of people worrying about what might or might
not potentially happen if something does or doesn’t happen. Whilst there are some lovely character
moments, this serial is one where it is simply 2 episodes too long. Hell, this could’ve been a 2-parter with some
major exposition cuts, yet still have been a tense affair with a little
padding.

Storr finally gets his comeuppance, and it didn’t happen a
moment too soon; the guy’s bullish technophobia was enough to drive me mad, and
the moment he informs Penley that he is planning to “befriend the aliens” I was
practically screaming at my TV willing someone to kill him. As Penley attempts to persuade him that they
need to head back to the base, he turns his back on him and mutters “you’re
trying to trap me!” and with that the paranoid, delusional fool abandons his –
possible – lover and stalks towards certain death, his filthy hair blowing in
the wind.

The direction, however, is wonderful, and Martinus actually
makes me want to like this. Ultimately, though, it is Hayles’ script that
falls a little short. The scenes where
the Doctor is framed through the ice, a wobbly silhouette discovered by Penley,
is magnificent. Likewise, the sets are
excellent. The cliffhanger is something
of a damp squib, though, as the Doctor is trapped within an airlock until he
tells the Ice Warriors his name, simply down to pure stubbornness. As the titles for episode 5 roll, we are
forced to relive this bland sequence all over again. Varga gives the Doctor 10 seconds to answer
his questions, but then, rather than asking any questions, he begins to count
down, before the Doctor... simply gives in.

There are some wonderful little titbits of dialogue
throughout this serial, mostly either delivered by, or aimed at, Troughton –
and the moment that Varga determines that the Doctor cannot really be a
scientist because “you look more like a scavenger” got a genuine giggle out of
me. So, too, did the moment that the
Doctor finally comes face-to-face with the Ice Warriors in their defrosted glory;
his double-take, before attempting to escape, really brings home the shock of
these creatures, and their wonderful (for the most part) design. The casting of such giants (again, for the
most part) as the Ice Warriors to appear opposite intentionally short actors as
the humans of the base is all well and good, but here it is even more striking,
as the 2nd Doctor’s diminutive frame is overshadowed by the Martian
monsters. As a note, I say for the most
part since Turoc, played by the usually imposing-looking Sonny Caldinez (of The Evil of the Daleks) looks rather
squat in comparison with the others, dumpy and lumbering in comparison to the
gargantuan appearance of Bresslaw and co.

The scenes between Penley and Jamie are likewise rather
lovely, and the fondness with which Penley speaks of Storr is very
touching. That said, this does seem like
something of a wasted serial for Frazer Hines as Jamie – all told, he’s barely
spent half an episode in the 5 that have gone before stood upright. He comes across as brash and courageous, but
ultimately is simply laid there either unconscious or paralysed for a great amount
of time. The intercutting of stock
footage works to an arguable degree – whilst I’m sure a grizzly bear, in the
wild, would be a threatening and imposing image, the stock footage of a baby
bear is hardly bone-chilling, and there is very little tension in the scene in
which it charges at Penley and Jamie, armed only with a tranquiliser gun.

The scenes in the Brittanicus Base are great here, too. Too easily could Clent have been drawn like
one of the typical Base-Under-Siege managers, like Hobson in The Moonbase and Robson will in Fury From The Deep. Ultimately, the downside to such formulaic
stories is that we essentially end up with a stock-supply of one-dimensional
caricatures, and the manager/leader/boss is inevitably a shouty, stubborn man
who distrusts the Doctor despite evidence to support what he is saying. Here, though, Hayles writes Clent’s
wonderfully, and Barkworth mines the character for all he can. The scene in which he criticises the computer’s
self-preservation is wonderfully underplayed, and likewise his ‘banter’ with
the other staff, and they way in which he draws himself up after being put down
by one of his employees, is spot on.

The most electrifying moments come between Clent and Penley –
finally back together again. The tension
is palpable, and the way in which he confides in Miss Garrett is really rather
touching, gulping hard as he admits that, if he tries to pull anything, he will
have to do the inevitable and prevent him.
When Penley finally arrives, the bluster and bravado is explosive, and
whilst Penley’s references to Clent being more a machine than a man have become
tiresome, seeing Barkworth’s responses to this insult are magnificent.

The final scene of the episode, with Troughton trying
desperately to remove the lid from the stink-bomb is very funny, and Victoria’s
attempts at distraction are equally ridiculous.
The final image, of the blinded Martian hitting the controls for the
sonic weapon despite the best efforts of the Doctor and Victoria is a genuinely
rather nail-biting moment, and by far the most satisfying cliffhanger of the
serial. Of course, the attack was merely
a warning shot, and did no major damage in the opening of part 6, as the Ice
Warriors finally arrive in the base and discuss their “needs” with Clent and
his staff. The moment when they shoot
down Walters with their sonic weapons still gives me goose bumps, although that
is principally because I simply love the special effect used, the warping
whining screen and accompanying noise are magical.

As the Doctor and Victoria rush against time to find a way
to stop the Ice Warriors, the Doctor’s throwaway line that “there is a vague
risk that it might kill everybody” is delivered with a wonderful deadpan by
Troughton – and Victoria’s response of “Jamie?!” is a lovely moment showing the
bond between the TARDIS crew. Following
the sonic attack aimed primarily at the Martians, Victoria, off-screen, is sent
back to the TARDIS to wait the final showdown out. This is comforting; here we have Troughton
taking a back seat to the story, and the touch of realism here is
wonderful. Whilst we’ve had a number of
serials where the Doctor and crew have been in the right place at the right
time to avert disaster, here he is too far away to help, and has to place the
fates of everyone into the very human hands of Penley and Clent.

Ultimately, this is a story about man v nature, and the role
therein of science, and as such it is refreshing, then, that really the Ice
Warriors have nothing to do with the climax either. It is simply Clent, Garrett and Penley, and
the Ioniser. It is also telling that it
is Penley – the only one who showed the courage to walk away from science – who
stands up to the computer and, in doing so, saves the day. While Clent was busy posturing, trying to
justify his value to the Ice Warriors, it was Penley being the realist who knew
what had to be done. The final death of
the computer is something of a damp squib, bawling like a spoilt child and
making that damned awful racket as it does so.

The serial ends, however, with one the most anticlimactic
moments of Doctor Who history, as it
is declared that it was “Only a minor explosion! We’re Safe!” and we realise that everything that
has been discussed at length for the last 6 episodes was all meaningless
posturing, and that there never really was any risk to the crew, the base or
the world after all. That the Doctor and
his TARDIS crew slink off off-screen, and the sounds of the ship taking off are
heard over the top of the final discussions, adds to the idea that really, the
Doctor had no effect in any of this; even without his presence, it is likely
that the world would have been saved. This
should be a good thing – it should reinforce to the viewer that humans are,
when pushed, capable of saving themselves.
Sadly, it doesn’t quite pull that off.
Instead, it simply feels like a bit of a cop-out.

All told, I realise that this blog entry is something of a
mixed bag – and that’s as it should be.
There are a number of moments of excellent characterisation throughout,
and Barkworth as Leader Clent is particularly outstanding, but all told, between
Hayles’ insistence of pushing his anti-scientific mantra at us, and the
ultimate redundancy of the Doctor and his crew, it somehow falls short. What it does do, however, is to introduce us
to the Ice Warriors, some of the most infamous and exciting villains the show
has brought us in years. Their portrayal,
thanks principally to a sterling effort from Bernard Bresslaw, guarantees they
remain so, and their recent reappearance in the series shows that even after
almost 50 years, they have not lost any of their appeal.

About Me

Scott Edwards is a teacher of English and Theatre Studies, with a BAHons in English Literature and Film Studies.He is also a self-professed ‘ming-mong’, and is now going to return to some Classic Doctor Who.